Kernel makes world’s first sale of low-carbon sunflower oil with climate premium

Kernel has completed the world’s first sale of sunflower oil with a reduced carbon footprint and verified climate benefits. The buyer was a multinational corporation pursuing a global net-zero strategy, which paid an additional premium over the market price for verified emissions reductions achieved during production.

The key feature of the deal is that emissions are reduced directly within the production and supply chain rather than offset through the purchase of carbon credits. Kernel produces batches of sunflower oil from crops grown with a lower carbon footprint and tracks emissions throughout the entire chain, from the field to the processing plant.

The company uses a system that calculates the carbon footprint of crops at individual field level, taking into account soil type, weather conditions, crop rotation and farming practices. The product is fully traceable from specific fields through grain elevators to the processing plant, allowing the associated emissions reductions to be verified. Kernel’s processing facilities also use electricity from renewable sources.

The global market for low-carbon agricultural products is still emerging. The climate premium depends on the volume of verified emissions reductions and the market value of carbon, which can reach $100 or more per ton of CO₂ equivalent. To automate calculations, ensure compliance with international standards and scale up its low-carbon offering, Kernel has started cooperation with technology company Regrow.

Kernel plans to scale up the project and offer low-carbon products to more customers. The company describes the deal as the first case in the global agricultural market where verified emissions reductions across the entire production chain have been directly monetized through an additional premium on the price of an agricultural product.

Tags: sunflower oil, Kernel, low-carbon